The Kansas City Chiefs have needs all over the field. Defense, offense, the lines, the receivers, the defensive backfield—pick a positional group, and you’ll likely find a hole. Moreover, there’s the question of whether to address them via the draft or free agency, so it’s a complicated puzzle with a lot of moving parts and pieces,
Jesse Newell of The Athletic covers the Chiefs, so he knows this better than anyone. He just released his first mock draft, and Newell used the first two rounds to cover the lines with a couple of intriguing choices, so let’s see who he chose and whether his selections are a fit or not.
Round 1, No. 9: Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami
Drafting offensive tackles is risky business, as the Chiefs learned all too well this season. They drafted left tackle Josh Simmons, who came with an injury history, and on top for that the rookie lineman had to take a brief hiatus from the team for about a month due to personal reasons.
Newell’s choice was a bit of a compromise, actually, as he made clear. He thinks the Chiefs’ biggest needs are at receiver and defensive end, but the viable candidates he liked for Kansas City were off the board early, hence his Mauigoa selection.
He’s betting Mauigoa slips to ninth so the Chiefs can select him, and the idea behind taking him would be that the would be a nice addition to a group that already has four positions locked in. The names here are Simmons, left guard Kingsley Suamataia, center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith, and adding the top tackle prospect would make tackle a position of strength.
GM Brett Veach values premium positions with his top picks, and while the fan base wouldn’t be excited about this pick, it does make a lot of sense.
Round 2, No. 40: Zion Young, Edge, Missouri
The Chiefs always seemed to be one pass rusher short this year, to use Newell’s words for the team’s struggles to generate pressure. Young is a local product, and the Chiefs met with him at the Senior Bowl.
He’s the 39th-rated prospect in the draft, and while he’s not a finished product yet, draft expert Dane Brugler says he’s “long, strong and determined with the hand usage to force his way through blockers.”
Selecting him would also satisfy the fan to some extent given that Young played locally, and he’s a solid value who would make sense at a position of need.